The US First Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday rejected a Puerto Rican's petition to vote in the November 2nd US presidential election, saying no such right existed until Puerto Rico becomes a state or the Constitution is amended. The 2-1 decision by the court was the third time a federal
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The seven Pitcairn Island men accused of multiple sex abuse charges have won the right to challenge British sovereignty over the Pacific outcrop before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the highest appeal court for Britain's overseas colonies, and even some of its ex-colonies. Lawyers for the accused, who
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In Thursday's corporations and securities law news, in his first prosecution of the insurance industry, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today sued Marsh & McLennan Cos., the world's largest insurance brokerage, for steering clients to certain insurers which resulted in lucrative payoffs for the broker. Spitzer also announced two
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President Bush is expected to sign the Global Anti-Semitism Awareness Act [PDF] today over objections from the State Department. Introduced by Holocaust survivor Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA), the legislation seeks to combat a worldwide rise in anti-Semitism through annual reports and the establishment of an anti-Semitism monitoring office inside the
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The European Union is taking Greece to the European Court of Justice over a Greek gambling law that not only bans slot machines and other overt gambling devices, but also coould ban playing computer games in public places or even in private, at home. The European Commission said Thursday that
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The CIA declined to comment Thursday on reports that Jordan is hosting a secret US detention center for 11 top al-Qaeda captives, although Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher "categorically denied" the allegation, demanding proof be shown of the facility. Reports of the secret prison surfaced Tuesday in a Human Rights
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Authorities who last week seized UK-based servers used by independent media network Indymedia have returned the servers intact (see this previous report on JURIST's Paper Chase.) The return of the original hard drives suggests that authorities wanted to review rather than remove data on them. It is still unclear who
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Chief US District Judge Thomas Hogan has held Time reporter Matthew Cooper in contempt for refusing to name his sources in the story that identified former ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife as a CIA agent. This is the second time Cooper has been found in contempt. The first contempt charge was
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The lower house of the Pakistani Parliament approved a bill Thursday to allow President Pervez Musharraf to remain as both the country's President and the Chief General of the armed forces. The bill was presented to allow Musharraf to keep his dual role in spite of a promise he
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A Florida appeals court has ruled that the state's informed-consent abortion statute is unconstitutional. The Florida 4th District Court of Appeal said that "as a matter of law, the [Women's Right to Know Act] is unconstitutional because, on its face, it imposes significant obstacles and burdens upon the pregnant woman
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The vote count began Thursday in Afghanistan's presidential election, after a UN-appointed panel investigating complaints surrounding the election said it would isolate ballot boxes it wanted to examine. The panel of three international experts was established to investigate allegations of voting irregularities. The panel also extended the deadline for complaints
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US District Judge Yvette Kane will hold a hearing next week on whether to give Pennsylvania overseas absentee voters two extra weeks to return their ballots. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, the Justice Department has filed suit arguing that election officials in Pennsylvania missed a key deadline to
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Defense attorneys for several Guantanamo Bay detainees have told the US District Court for the District of Columbia that, three months after the Supreme Court ruled that the detainees had the right to challenge their imprisonment, none have appeared in a courtroom and few of the 68 detainees who have
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US investigators preparing for war crimes trials against Saddam Hussein and his former aides have discovered a mass grave site in Hatra, which is thought to contain bodies of several thousand Kurds in nine separate trenches. Hatra is the first of 10 sites that will be exhumed for forensic, photographic
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Rocco Buttiglione, Italy's controversial nominee for EU justice commissioner, said Thursday that he might "renounce" the new job. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, an EU parliamentary review panel voted to oppose Buttiglione's nomination because of his conservative views on homosexuality. The panel's vote is not binding, nor can
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Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Thursday, October 14.The American Enterprise Institute will host a forum on Sovereignty, Security, and Justice in Iraq. Featured speakers include Salem Chalabi, former head of the Iraqi Special Tribunal. Watch a live webcast beginning at
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In Thursday's environmental law news, the European Commission has completed the final step in an infringement procedure before it files suit at the European Court of Justice against the UK for failing to tell the EU how the UK plans to dispose of nuclear materials from its Atomic Weapons Establishment(AWE).
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